Category Archives: Garden

It’s never too early to start planning for next year’s garden, especially if you do not use conventional fertilizers.

We spent the weekend cleaning out the barn, and preparing a new garden spot for next year.

We currently have our main garden at our other farm, about 5 miles done the road, so we wanted one here too.

To do this we decided to “lay out” the garden spot by taking tall field grass that we bush hogged, and putting it in the shape we wanted the garden spot.

This is a pic that was taken while we were still spreading it. This was a couple of weeks ago. We let it set on the area for weeks to kill off the grass underneath, while at the same time adding nutrients into our soil.

After the couple of weeks we burnt the dead grass to clean up the area for plowing, as well as increase the nutrients in the soil further. (This was this weekend)

Fluff up the dead grass to allow it to burn easier.

Start the fire on each side, and watch it carefully to avoid it spreading.

It is also important to stay with the fire a it burns to keep it under control. A pitchfork works well for this.

Once it has all burnt down it looks like this.

Now it is ready to plow.

After the garden bed is plowed, you can till the garden.

Once this is all finished, just sprinkle the tilled garden bed with high magnesium lime, and you re good to go.

We will work compost into it at some time before garden planting.

This is an easy way to get the garden area ready, and healthy for next spring.

Or fall garden is at the old farm, so we will be tending it…hopefully we will get some goodies 🙂

However, we did get an herb box slapped together from untreated pallets. (Treated pallets may last longer, but they also could leach nasties into your soil…and into your herbs)

This herb box is in no way a majorly constructed, life lasting herb box…but it will do the job…for free.

We would have needed about five million wagon loads of dirt, so we decided to use a bit of German wisdom …blended with some hillbilly-redneck gumption to create a raised herb bed. We took the idea from German raised bed gardens (a.k.a. hugelkultur raised construction) and put brush at the bottom of the herb box.

Next we added some seasoned “patties” from the pasture. (old cow poo)

Next we put some dirt from the compost, some leftover un-fortified tobacco soil, and sprinkled it with high magnesium lime for good measure.

My son, Cade (who is 4), thought it looked like a big cake. lol

I am soaking the herb seeds for 24 hours(because I am not really sure what the water retention will be like in the box..we tend to make up stuff as we go along…that’s just how we roll)

I will let you know how the planting goes…I am also making plant markers today with the kids help…should be…um…interesting.

One of the unwritten rules of living sustainable is to get whatever you can come across and preserve it for later. (well it may be written somewhere…but I have not read it so for the purpose of this post it is “unwritten”…it’s my blog…my rules 🙂 )

We didn’t grow beets this year….our garden this year has been ..um…interesting.

The weather has been really wet.

We have been really busy with other aspects of the farm…so we literally slapped together an UNPLANNED garden..GASP!

I know.. I know. It’s sacrilegious.

Every OCD cell in my body wants it to have been planned…. however after being behind…having tobacco to set…..and rain every stinkin day……it came to the point that I threw out my plans for the garden and slapped in some seeds.

So…we have some stuff growing…and I am planning (YAY!) a fall garden that hopefully will pan out.

So..anyway….my husband’s Granny called and said she had some extra beets in the garden to pick. Free food??!!

I love Granny.

YUMMY in my tummy.

I love food.

And, I love free.

It’s a win-win!

So we went this morning and picked them 🙂

I am planning to do two things with them.

1.) Pickled Beets

2.) Roasted Beets (for tonight, and also to freeze).

Come back tomorrow, and I will post the recipes..also how they turned out 🙂